


Finding family

by Alien_with_a_Houseplant



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - Steampunk, Character Death, Family, Gen, I'm Bad At Tagging, Minor Injuries, Minor Violence, My First Fanfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-19
Updated: 2018-04-19
Packaged: 2019-04-24 16:29:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14359260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alien_with_a_Houseplant/pseuds/Alien_with_a_Houseplant
Summary: ((Steampunk AU))When Jade's brother goes missing,  she's determined to find him. Enlisting the help of thieves she heads torwards the West where he was last seen.But when they meet things don't go quite the way she planned.





	Finding family

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!  
> So this is just a small oneshot I came up with one day for an english class. ^-^ This is my first time writing fanfiction so I'm sorry if the characters are not perfect, I really tried. If you like it or notice something off leave a comment, I love to improve! :) Thank you!

Jade Harley woke up to the sound of whirring engines and steam and for a brief moment she forgot where she was. She sat up, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes and looking around the small, cluttered room. That was when it came flooding back to her like a wave. Jade was aboard a small airship that was flying several thousand feet above the city. She was on a ride to get to the other side of the large city of London to find her brother, Jake, who went missing when the war had started. She shuddered at the thought of it. The war that had lasted four years.

It ravaged the country, splitting it into two halves, the West and the East. The two were both fighting to gain control of the whole country, and it showed no signs of stopping. Five years ago her brother Jake, went over to the West side to visit and attend to work business. What was supposed to be a three month trip turned into a two year trip as the war started and travel to the other side became impossibly expensive and dangerous. While he was gone, 15 year old Jade was left alone in the East. That was when she learned to fend for herself on the streets. She had picked up odd jobs at taverns and bars and was known around the area as being bright and cheerful.

After two long years her brother came back, looking tired but strangely well-dressed. He stayed for a few months in the small apartment Jade had managed to keep, but something about him had changed. Once the caring older brother, he was now cold and sharp. With some unease, Jade had noticed that he always carried two pistols with him. She knew better not to question it, she just smiled and was grateful he was back safe with her.

Four months later, just as things were getting back to normal, he disappeared again as if he was smoke in the wind. He had taken all his stuff and left a small, vague note of apology in rushed writing.

_Dear Jade, Im so very sorry but I found that I must return to the West for important business. Please forgive me and remember to always stay the bright young sister I love  
 Love, Jake._

She had known something was wrong. Maybe he was threatened, or blackmailed. Either way, it wasn’t like him to just leave her alone again. From that moment on Jade promised she would find him and bring him back. She made that promise to herself two years ago. Trips to the other side were expensive and no matter how hard she worked, she couldn’t make it and she was starting to get desperate. That is, until she met a girl named Roxy late at night as the bar she was working in was just about to close. She came in and made a deal with Jade to get her to the West side in exchange for some help. Jade agreed eagerly, leading her to the current circumstances.                           

She snapped out of her thoughts and quickly got ready, putting on her boots, and knee length dress she was instructed to wear. The length was good, because Jade soon discovered long dresses tended to get in the way in their line of work. She made her way into the main cabin, smoothing down her curly black hair and fixing her round, oversized glasses on her face. When she was done adjusting them, she blinked slowly and looked around the gondola of the airship.. It had been a week since she joined the small crew of four and she was slowly starting to get used to it. Two patched up pilot's seats and a makeshift control panel sat before smudged glass that looked out over the sprawling city of London. The grated metal floors were dirty and copper pipes ran their ways around the ship with steam coming off in short bursts from some places. A small sectioned-off place Jade came from worked as the living quarters and way in the back were the boilers and all the machinery that made the ship fly. In one of the pilot seats sat Roxy, her feet on the dash and a half empty metal flask in one hand while the other lazily piloted the ship through the air. She jumped up and smiled as Jade came in, her short blonde hair bouncing around her.

“Hey, Jade! Glad to see you’re up! I have good news for you darling, we should reach the otherside by nightfall and I found a old fancy apartment that’s just begging to be broken into,” She said. Jade smiled a little, an uncomfortable yet familiar tight feeling inside her as she sat down on the other worn out pilot’s seat and looked out over smoke filled sky.

They were looters. Or as Roxy was quick to correct her, people who just borrowed stuff and put it to a better use. They often went to some old, abandoned, war-ravaged town under the cover of night and found a place with the things they happened to need. Sometimes they went to the remains of the metalshop for scraps to fix the ship, other times it was the biggest house on the block for money and maybe some leftover food that wasn't ruined yet by spoilage and wild animals. It wasn’t the most moral thing that Jade could have been doing, but it was the only way she was getting to the other side to find her brother.

“After I help you with this, You know I have to leave to find my brother,” Jade said.

Roxy’s shoulders slumped dramatically, “We can’t be all that bad to be around, can we? Come on, we need you, and your gun skills,” she said it in a joking tone, prompting Jade to laugh despite the sadness creeping in at the thought of missing her. She shook it off quickly.

At that moment Dirk walked in from the back, grease covering his hands and goggles perched on top of his shockingly blonde hair. He looked to be only a few years older than Jade physically but his eyes were of someone that had seen everything. He stared at them both, raising an eyebrow.

“Does anyone pay attention to piloting this ship or is it the new plan to crash it into the ground and burn?” Dirk said, frowning.

The comparison between Roxy and Dirk was startling. While Roxy’s voice was as light and bubbly as a overflowing kettle, Dirk’s was flat and cool, like a lake just frosted over. Roxy was always so alight with energy, but Dirk was calm and collected. The two balanced each other andJade wondered to herself how two people so different ever met.

Roxy laughed him off, “If you're so worried about it, then you pilot this thing. You’re the one that built it.”

“I didn't build all of it. When we stole the ship it already had the main components,” Dirk said.

She rolled her eyes. “Whatever, small details.” But Jade smiled to herself as Roxy turned back to the wheel and started paying a little more attention.

Soon after Dave, Dirk’s younger brother walked in from the back, attracted by the conversation. His presence was made known by the light sound of metal against metal as he walked on his prosthetic leg. He never talked about it to Jade, only mentioning once that his brother had made it for him after an accident with a spy from the West side. Every now and then it would give off a little burst of steam as water ran through it to keep it from overheating. He was almost a mirror image of his brother, same hair and stature, though there was a few differences. Every now and then Jade could get him to crack a smile, and he liked talking to her on occasion when he wasn't busy fixing the boilers or pipes. Once she even convinced him to teach her how to pilot the ship when Roxy wasn’t around.

“We’re going to raid something tonight,” Jade said to him and she started to fill him and Dirk in on the details.

When she was finished he nodded. ”Alright, I can get everything ready. You could help too.” She nodded and followed him to the back of the ship, through the maze of pipes to retrieve the bags, clean guns, and whatever else needed to be done before tonight. She had a single rifle she brought with her and was the best shot out of all of them; well, maybe except for Roxy. She smiled to herself as she went to work cleaning her gun, thinking of her brother. He was always so proud of his shooting skills before he went to the West. When they were both little he would take her to the edge of town where the trees grew thick and shoot at small targets he had set up. Eventually he taught her using grandpa's old rifle. But those days ended when the war started, and Jade soon missed them. ' _Maybe when I find him we can go back_ ' She thought, finishing up her gun. Just one more trip then she was free to search for him. She could do this. She sat down and anxiously waited for night to fall.

The day went by quickly and soon night fell over the city. Jade and the group got went into the normal procedure that they went through every night. However tonight was different. A tension hung in the air, it was the first time the group had looted on the West side, enemy territory for all of them. Jade felt a small ball of nerves grow inside her. Once she was done helping them tonight, she could disappear and start her search for Jake.

Roxy carefully guided the small black ship between two broken buildings. Jade held back a smile as she listened to Roxy mutter curses under her breath. They were in a old city, and the war had not been kind. Tall, empty buildings crumbled into the sky like outstretched fingers and debris littered the ground. In the distance the sound of bombs rang through the night, a grim reminder of what they were doing. She found the apartment they were looking for and carefully landed the ship, cutting the motors and drifting to the ground. Jade stumbled as the ship came to a lurching stop on the ground 

"That was my best landing yet if I do say so myself." Roxy whispered, her teeth flashing in the dark. Beside her Jade could hear Dirk whisper.

"Come on, we should go.They have guards watching this town since it's so close to the front, so remember to stay quiet. Dave, you stay here and keep the ship ready for when we come back" 

Dave nodded. "No problem. Try not to get yourselves killed out there."

"We'll try." Roxy said, " When it all comes down to it it's nothing different from all the other towns we've raided. We got this don't we guys?" She smiled at Jade and Dirk. 

Jade nodded, returning the smile and hoping she looked more confident then she currently felt. "Yeah, I believe we can do this."

"Let's go. See you in a few hours Dave." Dirk said, reaching down and opening the hatch.

The mission was simple. Go in, grab anything that looked useful or valuable, and get out. She dropped down out of the ship silently, her shotgun loaded. The ground was cold through Jade's worn leather boots and Dirk took the lead. She followed closely behind, watching the sides with her gun aimed at the inky blackness. Every shadow looked ready to pounce and swallow her whole right where she stood and she tightened her grip and walked a little faster. Roxy watched the rear, totally serious.

The party made their way down an old alley and stopped outside a wooden back door. Dirk gestured at Jade and she stepped forward, aiming down the gun and shooting the handle off. The shot rang through the night and she flinched as it shattered the silence. The four went inside the dingy building, but Jade couldn’t stop herself from staring in awe at the old beauty of it. Once a beautiful lobby for only the richest in the town, the war had taken its toll, and it was no longer a home to anyone but the few small rodents that scuttled around in the shadows. A broken chandelier lay shattered on the ground and in a corner a grand piano sat gathering dust. It gave off an eerie, sad feeling and Jade swallowed nervously and stepped closer to Roxy, who was looking around with a grim look. They made their way up a group of stairs and set to work. Jade made her way around in the darkness, with a large canvas backpack on her shoulders, listening to every creak in the floor and quickly grabbing and shoving dust covered gadgets and anything they could sell for a few Euros on the black market into her bag. Around her, Dirk and Roxy did the same thing. No one talked, everyone wanted to be done as quickly as possible. Once Roxy signaled that they had enough, Jade made her way back into the alley with Roxy and Dirk following closely behind her. That place gave her an uneasy empty feeling and she was glad to get back out into the cool night air.

As they made it out of the alley and into the cobblestone streets Jade sensed someone. She readied her gun as she came around the corner. Her stomach dropped to her feet when she saw who it was. Three Western soldiers stood before them, guns aimed directly at the three. But that’s not what made her scared. One of them was her brother.

“Jake,” she dropped the bag of stolen goods in disbelief and lowered her gun, stepping closer to him. Relief and happiness filled her chest. She finally found him! “Jake, it’s me! Jade! I was looking for you for years.” She searched his face for any sign of recognition but only got a hard stare as his hands twisted tighter around his pistols.

“Stay where you are and don’t move.” His voice was hard and unfamiliar and she took a step back out of shock.

“Jade, get the hell back here,” Roxy said in a low voice. “These people are dangerous.”

She turned to look back in confusion, Roxy motioned with frantic gestures to get Jade to come back to her, her eyes wide and scared. Dirk looked like he was going to attack Jake right on the spot.

“That is your brother?” He said, his voice tight and full of hate.

“Yeah, this is Jake. My brother.” She looked back at Jake, uneasiness growing inside of her at the look of hatred in his eyes. She had never seen that look before when they were growing up long ago. It scared her.

Dirk took a deep breath, his eyes never leaving Jake. “He was the western soldier that shot off Dave’s leg.”

She whipped around, cold clutching her chest; gun clattering to the ground. There had to be a mistake. The other two soldiers shuffled forward and kept their guns on her but she ignored them. She wanted answers. And she wanted them now.

“Jake, Jake answer me. You didn't do those things did you? You couldn’t.” She asked, dreading what the answer might be.

He smiled. Not a caring smile like she had seen so many times before, no, this one was dangerous. The two soldiers beside him laughed.

“Sorry, but I can’t deny it my darling sister. Though I daresay I have shot a lot of people. They start to blur after a while.”

Her hands clenched into fists and she felt tears gather in her eyes, behind her Roxy gasped. “Why?” Jade asked in a soft voice.

He laughed coldly, twirling his pistol lazily around his fingers. “Oh, well. I must admit I am surprised you managed to find me, I’ll tell you. To put it short, I’m a spy for the West, assigned in the East and told to gather information.” He paused, seeming to enjoy the look of shock and horror on her face, then said “Now that you know, however, I’m afraid you can’t live anymore.” Jade found herself staring down the barrel of his pistol and she involuntarily took half a step back.

“You wouldn’t shoot me, after I searched for you! I spent years looking for you!” She struggled to come up with words.

He shrugged. “I never asked to be found Jade.” He cocked the gun. “I was even perhaps hoping that you had died off by now.”

Jade felt her blood run cold. He wouldn’t really shoot her would he? They were family. She felt far away as she looked at the gun and behind her, she heard Roxy scream “NO!” right before the loud bang. Jade squeezed her eyes shut and she hit the hard ground on her side, scraping her hands on the loose gravel and rocks, but she didn't feel any pain. Someone had pushed her out of the way of the gunfire.

She heard Jake swear and before he had another chance, she scrambled for her gun and shot him dead in the chest. He fell without a single sound, the light leaving his eyes all at once. Two other bangs from behind her and the other two guards went down. Crawling to look behind her she gasped at the sight. Dirk swayed on unsteady feet, a hand clenched to his side. A deep red stained his shirt and seeped through his fingers onto the ground.

The world seemed muted and Roxy yelled at her to go and tell Dave while she wrapped an arm around Dirk and lead him towards the ship. She took one last look at her now dead brother before she nodded and stumbled off, finding Dave and frantically telling him what happened in panicked tones. He nodded silently and calmly as she talked and disappeared into the back room. A few minutes later, Roxy came in with Dirk clinging to her, barely conscious. Desperate to help she helped lead him to the back room and onto a wooden table but was lead out shortly after by Dave.

“You don’t know anything about this,” Dave said, “Get us out of here. We’ll take care of him”

“Are you sure? I want to help, please” Jade said.

Dave nodded. “You will help by flying back into the East. We’re not safe here. Trust me, we know what we’re doing.”

Jade sighed but nodded, quickly walking over to the control panel and propeling the ship into the inky sky. She blinked back tears as she flew higher into the night, trying not to think about what just happened. Behind her, a hoarse scream echoed up through the cabin and she gritted her teeth, focusing on flying the ship as smoothly as she could. She flew till the sun came up over the city and she could barely keep her eyes open. Somewhere in the very back of her mind she thought this was good. If she was tired she couldn’t think about what had happened. Early in the morning, Roxy came out of the back, bags under her eyes and looking exhausted. She sat down beside Jade and pulled out her flask again, taking a deep drink before offering it to Jade, who took it and felt the fiery liquid go through her as she drank from it.

“He’ll be alright.,” Roxy said after a moment.

Jade sighed in relief, weight lifting from her chest. “Oh thank you. I can’t believe it ”

She nodded. “It’s not the first time Dirk took a bullet for someone, literally or figuratively.”

Jade waited for her to elaborate but she didn’t, just took another sip from her flask. Jade had a small feeling that she would have to ask Dirk himself if she wanted to figure it out. After a moment she spoke again. “So, what are you going to do now?”  
Jade shrugged, gliding the ship around a large cloud. “I don’t know to be completely honest. Now that Jake’s dead, I don’t have anything else to do. Nowhere to go.”

The word dead felt bitter in her mouth and she shuddered again. Hopelessness grew inside her as the reality of the situation hit her. She held back tears as she looked down at her lap. The two girls sat in silence, until Roxy spoke up again.

“If you want you can stay with us.”

Jade’s heart jumped in her chest, ”Really? Are you serious? You guys are not mad at me for what I did?”

Roxy smiled. “No, of course not. It wasn’t your fault. Of course you can stay with us, you’re part of the family now. We would be sad to see you go after this.”

Jade smiled, feeling a small bit of happiness return to her. The sun lit up the sky in a thousand shades of red as it rose over London. Behind her Dave walked in, an arm around Dirk as he stood along beside him. “Look at that, I’m alive. Are you alright Jade?”

She nodded, smiling a little. “I am because of you, thank you.”

He shrugged, flinching as his side shifted. “Don’t worry about it, I just couldn’t let the same guy take out two people I knew.”

She nodded again, turning away again as she felt tears come along again. The four fell silent and gazed out the window with quiet smiles and deep down Jade knew she had finally found her real family.

**Author's Note:**

> So there it is! Hopefully it wasn't too bad, goodness formating is hard, so hopefully it turned out ok. I love comments, so if you liked it or hated it please let me know! Thanks! ^-^


End file.
